Nashville reels after shooting at Antioch High School
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Nashville is reeling.
In the aftermath of the Antioch High School shooting on Wednesday, the city is once again faced with a painful truth.
- Millions of dollars in security upgrades and months of impassioned activism are not enough to stop every act of violence.
Driving the news: That grim reality was a recurring theme during a press conference on Thursday with Mayor Freddie O'Connell, schools director Adrienne Battle and other city leaders.
- Metro Schools spokesperson Sean Braisted told reporters AI technology connected to surveillance cameras at Antioch High failed to detect the pistol the shooter fired in the school cafeteria because he was too far away.
"There's no foolproof solution for any of this," Braisted said.
- "We have AI systems to get into the front door so you have to check in. We have security vestibules. We have shatter-resistant film. We have SROs. We have safety and security drills and plans."
- "It all works together as a system, but one system alone is not going to keep people safe."
Between the lines: The Antioch High School shooting has renewed calls for gun control measures. But despite the fact that many reforms have broad bipartisan support, Republican state lawmakers have shut down debate on any meaningful changes.
- Instead, over the last several years, the General Assembly has expanded access to guns.
- That expansion came hand-in-hand with a sharp uptick in gun violence and gun thefts.
State of play: It is still unclear how the 17-year-old shooter got the pistol he used on Wednesday. Police said the student fatally shot 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante in the cafeteria before killing himself.
The bottom line: Braisted and O'Connell both emphasized that the scourge of gun violence, and the increasing prevalence of firearms in Tennessee, requires action far beyond the school system.
- "These are questions that are beyond the scope of Metro schools, but need to be addressed by the broader community," Braisted said. "But we are doing what we can as a district to install and equip our schools with the safety protocols, resources they can use to be safe."
How to help: The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee established the Nashville School Violence Support & Healing Fund to raise money to support Antioch High School victims.
- Foundation leader Hal Cato noted that the fund would also support victims of any future school violence.